The Rebels' Struggle
by Supershadowdan12
Summary: A group of rebels, led by a rebel commander simply known as 'fox' fight for their survival. Through Combine forces, headcrabs and zombies, their fight will not be an easy one.
1. Chapter 1

_Half life: The Rebels' Struggle_

_Chapter 1: Train to City 17_

The group of rebels burst through the warehouse doors, shooting the combine guards. The leader, a tough resistance leader known as 'commander fox' jumped behind some crates and used them for covers, while the others fired bullets in through the door. Seeing no guards, he quietly signalled to the others to come through, picking up ammo from the dead guards for his stolen pulse rifle.

Through the blurred out office window the rebels noticed a few figures standing towards the window. Fox noticed one of them had a weapon in his hands and immediately shouted out the others. "Get down!" The rebels jumped to the floor and the window smashed as bullets went flying through. Through a hole in the window, Fox threw a grenade which exploded in a ball of flames and broken glass.

"Guess we got a new base." Fox smirked.

"This is no times for jokes, sir." One of the rebels, known simply as John, remarked.

"Calm down, look, we got away from those combine didn't we? And now we have a hideout, I think we should at least celebrate it." He smirked again.

"I suppose, I'll see if I can get the radio tuned up. Find any other survivors." John said seriously.

"You go do that, John. The others and I will get some ammo. Seems like we hit the jackpot here."

John smiled a bit then went back to concentrating on tuning the radio. Fox and the other two rebels, known as Mark and Steve broke open some of the crates and took some ammo from the supply boxes. They loaded their guns and went into the office where John was still messing around with the radio.

"Any luck?" Fox asked.

"Well, I picked up something in the nearby area... But no-one replied..."

"Ever wonder when this is gonna end?" Mark spoke out.

"Hm?" Fox hummed.

"I mean... All this. Running from others. Shooting other humans. Innocent people being infested by parasitic creatures..."

"We don't know... Soon I hope. And with the freeman on his way to city 17? The end may be in sight." Fox said hopefully.

The entire group stood there for a minute thinking back to times before the Black Mesa incident, but their thoughts were interrupted by gunfire nearby. Fox nodded at the group who all ran outside of the warehouse. A rebel, stricken with terror, ran towards the warehouse. The group opened their mouths to talk to the man, but then noticed what he had been running from; Headcrab zombies.

Quickly loading their guns, they shot towards them. The high pitched screams of the zombies made them flinch slightly, but they continued to shoot until they fell onto the hard, concrete road. Looking towards the now lifeless bodies of the poor undead victims, Fox saw two men who had been attacked by the zombies. He sighed and looked towards the survivor.

"Friends of yours?" He asked the man.

"All of them were..." The man groaned, struggling to keep himself up. "We got bombarded with headcrab shells. We were the only three not infected... The only ones armed. We stood no chance... We couldn't out-run them..."

"Who are you?" Fox stared at him, sympathetically.

"I... am Bill. That's what they call me. Seems like the combine are targeting us... The resistance is bombarding all the main rebel encampments, we need to take action soon..." The group walked him into the warehouse. Meanwhile, John stood up triumphantly after finally getting a signal. He glanced towards Bill, and then looked at Fox with a grin.

"I reached the radio op. She said that station 12 just went down... Attacked by Civil protection... But we have some good news. Gordon freeman just passed through!" John said, excitedly.

"He has? Ahh, finally some action." Fox smirked. "Get Bill some medical supplies, and a weapon. Good thing there's a lot of stuff here. Probably be able to hold this place as a base, as long as we stay vigilant and use the supplies wisely."

Mark passed the med kit to Bill, who started tending to his injuries. The radio sounded again. "Hey John, are you still there?" The rebel operator asked.

"Yes, what is it?" He asked back, into the small radio.

"I don't think it will be wise to 'hold it out' in that warehouse. The Rebel areas are being bombarded. And I'm pretty sure message is out that a group of rebels took over a Combine warehouse, killing a group of civil protection officers."

"I suppose not, we'd better get the hell out of here soon. Any idea where to go to?"

"Well, just move through the areas around. You'll probably find some old rebel encampments or something. I'd take any supplies you find, and move on, quickly." She replied. "I'd be... very careful... The areas around have been heavily bombarded... the place will be teeming with headcrabs and zombies."

"I... See. We'll leave as soon as possible."

"Keep safe. I'm sure at one point you'll meet up with Freeman... He's not a one man army. He may be exceptionally skilled but... he's just a man. Keep safe! We need all the survivors we can get... They seem to have acknowledged our existence. And they're fighting back... But, we will resist. As we are the Resistance! Down with the combine!" The operator disconnected, and John switched the radio off.

"Well, you heard her. That's our new plan. We'll leave very soon. It's not safe here... Well, nowhere is safe, but I say we shouldn't wait here for our deaths. I say we leave, as soon as possible." John looked at the group, who nodded. The sound of shells hitting the ground could be heard from nearby, and the screams of those attacked rang out.

"It's getting closer, we'd better leave. Now." Fox said quickly, and the group headed outside, running. In the sky nearby there were drop ships, and they were moving swiftly. The group ran into the sewer entrance, just as the warehouse was destroyed. It collapsed, with a loud thud behind them.


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2: The Sewers_

The sludge down in sewers was thick, and the stench was awful, but it was safe. For now. Occasionally, the group walked past a mattress and supplies, showing the previous signs of life in the sewers. Through the sewer, there were many decomposing bodies, some zombies, some civil protection and some rebels. Most of them were face down in the water, being moved about by the 'water' flowing.

In the roof, in some areas, there were grates, in which sunlight shone through in bars. Occasionally a civil protection officer would walk above, on top of the grates. The group did not shoot, to save alerting surrounding guards. "These tunnels last forever!" Fox sighed, wiping some slime off his shirt.

"Indeed. The nearest exit in somewhere to the east... I think we're near the tunnel leading their but... It seems to be a level lower." John sighed. "And that part has flooded."

"You mean we're gonna have to dive in this gunk?" Steve groaned.

"Afraid so, unless we head north... But that just leads to dead ends; Would be pointless."

"Ok... But what about if we need to breath?"

"Well, I think only certain areas are flooded... And there should be a way to drain the water... I'm not sure. These sewer maps are quite... limited." John scratched his head.

"Well, no time like the present." Fox interrupted, diving in.

The group followed, jumping into the murky water. Spying an open area below the water, Fox swam down, and through the opening. The group followed. The opening led to a large room, and the group swam upwards.

"Where to now?" Fox said, taking in a deep breath of air.

"I think there are some more tunnels... A series of tunnels down on the flooded level. We need to drain this water, Fox. We'll run out of oxygen before we reach the exit." John pointed at a valve, near the roof. "One of us will have to climb up there... The ladder seems broken, but there should be a series of vents up there... Somewhere in here."

"I'll go; I can see the entrance to them from here." Fox swam up to a platform, next to a broken vent cover. He crawled through the compact, metal tunnels. A few headcrabs wandered around, which he shot using his pistol. The shot echoed through the vents, causing his ear to ring slightly, but he continued.

Going up some slopes, and finding a ladder within the vents, he got the other cover. He smashed it open using his gun. He wandered cautiously on the pipes near the top of the huge room. And got to the valve; He turned it to the right and the water began to drain. Quickly getting back to the original platform, he found a ladder down the side.

He went down the ladder, and re-united with his group. "Right, lets continue." He said happily, taking the lead. Turning on his torch, he walked in front. The tunnels were incredibly dark, and only a few flickering lights lighting up the path. The tunnels were quiet, and showed no signs of life.

After walking for a while, the tunnels started to light up slightly. They got brighter and brighter, until they finally reached the other end. There was a slope, leading to a large opening, where daylight shone through. The group smiled to each other, and walked out into an old rebel camp.

There were bodies strewn out on the ground. And a smoking shell in the centre. Bill held his head, and started to sweat.

"Ah. We're in a... Bombarded area..." Fox gasped. "Be careful... They're still might be some of those parasites about... And these guys... Might be headcrab hosts..." Fox sweated.

The group trod with caution, dodging the lifeless bodies of the rebels. Seeing a path, the group headed in the direction. The path was nothing more than some gravel roughly placed, but it seemed to be leading the way to their survival. Nearby the path, Fox spotted a headcrab. It flung itself towards him. He shot at it with his pistol.

Some of the 'bodies' rose up, revealing the headcrabs on their domes. They gave out a muffled scream, and the group looked at them with terror. Trembling, Fox lifted his pulse rifle. "Open fire!" He shouted out. The group shot at the zombies, which fell to the ground, but were alarmed by a dropship nearby. Another shell was dropped on the camp hitting a corpse, and headcrabs jumped out.

"New plan. Run!" Fox shouted. The group sprinted away, down the path. The dropship landed nearby the path, and the group continued running. A few civil protection officers ran out and the drop ship flew away. Bullets were fired towards the group, narrowly missing. They ran into a slightly destroyed house. A shotgun lied on the floor along with some ammo.

Fox took the shotgun, and walked outside. The officers ran towards the building and started shooting towards him. Aiming at the head, Fox fired the shotgun at one of them as he reloaded. The other shot at Fox, hitting him in the arm. He screamed out in pain, but fired the shotgun again, killing the second officer. He went into the house, using a medkit to cover his wound.

"Well, they found us... We need to get somewhere not so in the open." John sighed, picking up some ammo.

"Hmm, I have no idea where we are; Think you can get the radio tuned?" Fox asked.

"Yeah, but I need to get somewhere slightly safer. This houses roof looks like it's on the brink of collapsing, and they could just shoot at us from all angles here. I wonder if they have a basement?"

Fox walked around the house, and opened a door with some stairs leading down. "Bingo." The group walked down to the basement, and turned on the light switch. The room was quite large, and there seemed to be an entrance to some underground tunnels in one corner.

"More tunnels?" Mark said. "Seems like running into this basement was so much of a loss; we have cover... Safer than up there."

John started fiddling with the dials of the radio. And quickly tuned into the rebel operator's line. "This is John, do you read?" John asked.

"Ah, John. We were waiting for a transmission from you. Worried that... You got attacked." She said.

"I was wondering if you had any idea where we could go next? Civil protection is on our tail and... We're lost."

"Hm, well, the nearest safe area to you is... Of to the east. The tracker on your radio shows us that you've found the 'house'. Follow the tunnels in the basement. You'll find one of our main command areas... Be careful, the tunnel don't go the full way and... Who knows what lurks in them." She said, seriously.

"Okay, thanks." He replied.

"News has reached us about Freeman. Apparently, he's got to station 6. Arlene just gave him an airboat but... It sounds like she just got attacked. These stupid headcrabs are everywhere." She sighed solemnly. "I wish you luck, you're some of our best 'survivors'... Try not to die... We've lost so many people." The transmission cut out and ended. Leaving the room in silence.

The sound of a muffled scream echoed through the tunnels, causing the group to jump. Shots fired out too, and the sound of boots moving around could be heard. Faintly, a civil protection radio sounded out. "Looks like we've got zombies and CPs. Get all the supplies... This won't be easy." Fox ordered, sighing.


End file.
